Modeling quality of life of Ho Chi Minh City dwellers

Quality of life (QoL) has received more and more attention from scholars and researchers from various fields such as healthcare, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and especially economics after many decades of focusing on income. However, researchers have faced many challenges to gain the proper measurement of QoL due to the contextually based concept. This study employs the primary data conducted in Ho Chi Minh City including 500 observations in 2022, with the application of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to construct a hierarchical model to measure the QoL of the dwellers in Ho Chi Minh City. The empirical model supports the multi-level hierarchical structure of the QoL. The statistically significant contribution of economic, social, and environmental dimensions in the integrated index has been confirmed. The environmental component shares the highest weight, followed by the economic factor. The social aspect contributes the least share in the quality- of-life index. Further analysis of the sub-criteria in each dimension has been made. The findings implicitly suggest the policy concentration on sustainable factors enhancement to raise the QoL. It was a milestone for policy makers to switch the focus from material to non-material factors in the life quality model in Vietnam

Pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia: poverty in irrigated agriculture: issues and options: Vietnam

Irrigated farming / Poverty / Farm income / Irrigation management / Institutions / Legal aspects / Water rates / User charges / Participatory management / Privatization / Participatory rural appraisal / Performance indexes / Irrigation programs / Irrigation systems / Pumping / Irrigation canals / Social aspects / Economic aspects / Rivers / Hydrology / Dams / Households / Income / Regression analysis / Drainage / Cooperatives / Water delivery / Water distribution / Rice / Financing / Drought / Vietnam / Red River Delta / Nam Duong Irrigation System / Nam Thach Han Irrigation System / Han River

Integrating of PLS-SEM and the Importance Performance Matrix Analysis to Exploring the Role of Provincial Competitiveness Index to Growth

Provincial competitiveness was one of the engines of growth under the institutional theory. The Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) has been surveyed since 2005 to reflect the perceptions of local business environments, categorized into 10 sub-indices with 128 indicators. The current PCI has challenged the governance due to its broad construction. This study aimed to reconstruct the indicators in each PCI sub-index to be more specific for improving governance. The paper further explored the importance-of performance of both the PCI sub-index and its indicators to the provincial growth in Vietnam. Secondary data of 63 provinces during the period of 2017-2020 have been used with the employment of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM), and the extension of the importance-performance matrix analysis (IPMA). Our results showed the reliability and validity of 21 measured items under 5 PCI sub-indices. The findings confirmed the positive impact of the PCI index on growth. Moreover, the highest importance but lowest performance of SLO (law and order) was implied. SLA (land access and security of tenure), on the contrary, peaked the performance with the lowest importance. The importance of STC (time costs and regulatory compliance), SPA (proactive provincial leadership), and SLP (labor quality) has been ranked with the former sharing the highest priority while similar performance of the four sub-indices has been found. The results implied that the provincial authorities should prioritize their efforts to improve governance based on the importance-performance analysis of PCI sub-indices. Moreover, the importance and performance of each sub-index indicator reflected the great governance improvement with an average performance of 50%. However, special attention should be focused on vocational training, effective state officials, and legal support to the business due to their high importance but low performance

Career Path Choice in the Industry 4.0 using Grey Decision Making

Career path choice was an important decision in each individual life. Industry 4.0 has brought new challenges to a career path with much emphasis on smart instead of hard work. Globalization has also challenged Confucian culture in Vietnam and led to the change in the criteria of career path choice. The objective of this research was to explore and rank the criteria for career path choice in the context of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The innovative grey decision-making method, namely Grey Analytical Hierarchy Process (GAHP), was employed to reach the research objectives. The data of 30 experts who were researchers and practitioners in human resources were purposively selected to be used for the analysis. Research results showed that the hierarchical model of career path choice in the Vietnamese context had three levels, in which the first level is the goal level. The second level included three main criteria with the priority orders as follows: (1) work diversity, (2) job prospects, and (3) family preference. Further, the ranking was made with thirteen sub-indicators in the third level of the hierarchical model. The findings reflected the great changes in career path choice criteria, switching to work diversity from traditionally Confucian values with much reliance on family preference and job prospects in the public sector. This implied a proper performance of competency-based education for employees to meet the labor market demand of the private sector

Pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia: poverty in irrigated agriculture: issues and options: Vietnam

IWMI-ADB Projec

Enhanced hyaluronic acid production from Priestia flexa N7 isolates

Background: Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a gel-like substance made up of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine units, capable of absorbing and retaining water, present in hydrated gel form across human and animal tissues. It aids in joint lubrication and moisture retention and acts as a cushion for shock absorption. HA has unique biological properties, promoting fibroblast cell growth, aiding wound healing, and exhibiting low solubility and viscosity, making it an organic ingredient in tissue culture techniques. It is utilized in eye drops and skin ointments and plays a vital role in the extracellular matrix, rendering it invaluable in medical and cosmetic applications, such as treating osteoarthritis and enhancing skin wound recovery. Methods: The methods employed in this study involve isolating microorganisms, screening bacterial strains capable of synthesizing HA, identifying bacteria using molecular biological methods, and researching optimal conditions to select bacterial strains that produce the highest HA concentrations. Results: In this study, strain Priestia flexa N7 was studied for suitable conditions for HA biosynthesis. Bacterial strains were fermented for 48 h on medium containing the following ingredients: glucose (60 g/L); yeast extract (5.0 g/L); peptone (20 g/L); K2HPO4 (2.0 g/L); Na2HPO4 (1.0 g/L); NaCl (2.0 g/L); FeSO4 (1.0 g/l); sodium glutamate (9.0 g/L); and MgSO4.7H2O (2.0 g/L) and pH 8.0 at 37°C under the condition of continuous shaking at 150 rpm. The maximum HA production achieved was 1105 mg/L. Conclusions: The mentioned bacterial strain exhibits significant potential for HA synthesis and is extensively employed in producing items across the health care, medical, food, and cosmetic industries. These findings revealed the most effective HA acid manufacturing strategy for achieving maximum output

In silico validation revealed the role of SCN5A mutations and their genotype–phenotype correlations in Brugada syndrome

Abstract Background Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a rare genetic disease that causes sudden cardiac death (SCD) and arrhythmia. SCN5A pathogenic variants (about 30% of diagnosed patients) are responsible for BrS. Aims Lack of knowledge regarding molecular characteristics and the correlation between genotype and phenotype interfere with the risk stratification and finding the optimal treatment in Vietnam. Therefore, we identified SCN5A variants and evaluated the genotype–phenotype correlation of BrS on 117 Vietnamese probands. Materials and Methods The clinical characteristics and blood samples of BrS patients were collected. To determine SCN5A variants, Sanger sequencing was conducted, and subsequently, these variants were analyzed by bioinformatic tools. Results In this cohort, the overall rate of detected variants in SCN5A was 25.6%, which could include both pathogenic and benign variants. In genetic testing, 21 SCN5A variants were identified, including eight novels and 15 published variants. Multiple bioinformatic tools were used to predict variant effect with c.551A>G, c.1890+14G>A, c.3338C>T, c.3578G>A, and c.5484C>T as benign, while other variants were predicted as disease‐causing. The family history of SCD (risk ratio [RR] = 4.324, 95% CI: 2.290–8.269, p < 0.001), syncope (RR = 3.147, 95% CI: 1.668–5.982, p = 0.0004), and ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (RR = 3.406, 95% CI: 1.722–5.400, p = 0.0035) presented a significantly higher risk in the SCN5A (+) group, consisting of individuals carrying any variant in the SCN5A gene, compared to SCN5A (−) individuals. Conclusion The results contribute to clarifying the impact of SCN5A variants on these phenotypes. Further follow‐up studies need to be carried out to understand the functional effects of these SCN5A variants on the severity of BrS

Adipose tissue-derived cytokines and their correlations with clinical characteristics in Vietnamese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract Background Adipokines are involved in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders including obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study investigates the levels of leptin, resistin, visfatin, secreted frizzled-related protein 5 (SFRP5), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and their correlations with clinical parameters of overweight and T2DM. Methods We recruited overweight 50 patients with T2DM, 88 non-overweight patients with T2DM, 29 overweight and 100 non-overweight individuals devoid of T2DM for this study. The levels of studied adipokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and correlated with clinical parameters. Results The levels of MCP-1 and SFRP5 were decreased while visfatin and RBP4 levels were increased in patients with T2DM compared to those in the control individuals (P < 0.01). Among patients with T2DM, leptin and resistin levels were higher while RBP4 levels were lower in patients with overweight T2DM compared to those in patients with non-overweight T2DM (P < 0.0001, 0.019 and 0.05, respectively). Leptin and MCP-1 levels were correlated with HOMA-IR, QUICKI and HOMA-β. Leptin/MCP-1 ratio was correlated with insulin levels, HOMA-IR and HOMA-β indexes. Resistin/RBP4, visfatin/MCP-1 and MCP-1/RBP4 ratios were strongly correlated with the levels of fasting glucose, HbA1c and HOMA-β. In addition, ROC curve analyses indicated a diagnostic potential of resistin/RBP4 and MCP-1/RBP4 indexes for T2DM (AUC = 0.81 and 0.83, respectively) and β-cell function (AUC = 0.76 and 0.74, respectively). Conclusions Adipokines (leptin, resistin, visfatin, SFRP5, MCP-1, and RBP4) are associated with overweight and T2DM and may serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic intervention for overweight-related T2DM